Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 21: "The Human Bomb"

Reviewed by: James Lantz

Original Broadcast Date: February 06, 1953

Writer: Richard Fielding

Director: Lee Sholem

Guest Cast:
Trevor Bardette as Bet-A-Million Butler
Dennis Moore as Officer Riley
Marshall Reed as Deputy Inspector Hill
Lou Lubin as the Small Henchman
Ted Ryan as the Large Henchman
Stephen Carr as a Man in the Crowd and the Voice of Sam
Lou Krugman as Conway
Almira Sessions as Miss Bachrach
Aline Towne as the Receptionist

"The Human Bomb"

Bet-A-Million Butler will bet on anything. He is proving this with his associate Conway at the Metropolis City Club. Should Butler get Superman to do his bidding for thirty minutes, Conway must pay him one hundred thousand dollars. Butler sets his plan into motion at the Daily Planet Building in the office of star reporter Lois Lane. With dynamite and a detonator strapped to his person, Butler calls himself "The Human Bomb", and his risky wager could endanger the lives of everyone inside.

Cub reporter Jimmy Olsen has just entered Lois' office to find her handcuffed to Bet-A-Million Butler. Jimmy does not believe that the explosives attached to Butler are real. However, he doesn't want to take a chance on Lois getting hurt. Butler has only one demand: to see Superman. Jimmy has gone to tell editor Perry White what's going on with the Human Bomb. Both Jimmy and Perry are at a loss on how to contact Superman. With Clark Kent out on assignment, there may be no way to get in touch with the Man of Steel.

Perry and Jimmy have found Lois on the building's ledge with the Human Bomb. A crowd looks up at the spectacle as Lois' shoes fall to the street, and Perry has called Metropolis Police Deputy Inspector Hill. Meanwhile, Clark returns to the Planet. Needing a means to disappear and become Superman, Clark pretends to be angry over what he believes is a publicity stunt for the newspaper. The mild mannered reporter storms out of Lois' office to don the familiar red, blue and yellow costume of the Last Son of Krypton. Now, all our hero must do is learn what the villainous Bet-A-Million Butler wants.

Butler wants Superman to remain with him while a robbery takes place at the Metropolis Museum. Should the Metropolis Marvel be seen trying to prevent the crime, Lois and the rest of the Daily Planet staff will perish in the Human Bomb's explosion. At that moment, Superman gets an idea. He enters the window of Clark Kent's office. With the aid of Deputy Inspector Hill, whose coat is draped over his shoulders, a lamp and a tape recorder, Butler can see and hear what seems to be Superman while the real Man of Steel stops the thieves. Hopefully our hero's plan doesn't put Lois and the others in too much danger.

Butler's henchmen have stolen what they must from the Metropolis Museum. They were unsuccessful in making their getaway. Superman has grabbed the back of their car. The pair of thieves are currently on their way to police headquarters. All that the Man of Tomorrow must do now is rescue Lois from the Human Bomb named Bet-A-Million Butler.

"No comment until the time limit is up."

This is all Butler hears from "Superman" inside Clark's office as the figure's profiled shadow is seen through the window. Meanwhile, Jimmy doesn't believe that the Human Bomb's dynamite is real in spite of Superman's testing the stick that was left on Lois' desk earlier. He doesn't even find the Apex Powder Company, maker of the explosive, in the Metropolis telephone book. Taking one of Perry's golf clubs, Jimmy has made his way across the ledge to Lois and Butler. He intends to try and rescue Lois. However, in his attempt to do so, he may have put her in danger by revealing one important fact. Superman is not really in Clark Kent's office.

Lois has managed to return inside the Daily Planet building thanks to Jimmy, who is struggling on the ledge with Butler. The cub reporter is falling to his doom when Superman catches him in the nick of time. Deputy Inspector Hill and his men have arrested Bet-A-Million Butler, whom Lois slaps for capturing her. With Jimmy safe and being praised by Lois and Perry in Clark Kent's office, Superman now has a chance to return to his guise of the mild mannered reporter. Lois, Jimmy and Perry would like to know where Clark has been all day.

"Me? I went fishing. Caught a big one too," Clark replies with a smile.

4Rating - 4 (out of 5): Trevor Bardette was in a project that starred George Reeves before The Adventures of Superman. He had a minor role in Gone with the Wind, in which Reeves played Brent Tarleton. Bardette would later play Julius Caesar in season three's "Great Caesar's Ghost".

Marshall Reed had primarily played in westerns, including the role of Nelson the Quaker blacksmith in The Angel and the Badman. He will return to The Adventures of Superman in "The Whistling Bird".

Lou Krugman is a character actor who has portrayed numerous parts in his career. Look for him as Jacques Olivier in "Ghost Wolf" very soon.

Much of Lou Lubin's movie and television career was in film noir. However, old time radio fans would know him best for his role of Shorty the Barber in Amos 'n' Andy.

Deputy Inspector Hill's scenes were intended for Inspector Henderson. Hill was a last minute addition to the script. Robert Shayne had been called to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee before his scenes were filmed. Shayne had been under the group's scrutiny and, as a result, was not placed in this episode's credits.

The cutaway scene as Jimmy walks on the building's ledge contains a blooper. The cars are moving backwards.

Richard Fielding is a pen-name used by both the combined talents of Robert Maxwell and Whitney Ellsworth.

When Superman catches Jimmy, it's actually a dummy in the place of Jack Larson. While Larson enters the office window with George Reeves, he never actually flew with him on The Adventures of Superman. According to Larson in season two's DVD commentaries, he never got the chance to fly with Superman until he had guest starred on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

The Daily Planet newspaper with the headline "Superman Wages War Against Crime" will appear again in the episode "Crime Wave".

This episode was made to ease budget restraints. Originally, "Death Rides The Sky Chaser", a script written by Doris Gilbert ("The Monkey Mystery") and adapted from the radio shows' "Happyland Amusement Park" (July 08, 1940-July 19, 1940) and "Death Rides The Roller Coaster" (February 25, 1949), was to be produced. Effects had proved too costly, and Whitney Ellsworth's re-writing the story had taken away many of the important dynamics of the audio version.

The episode itself deserves a five. However, Marshall Reed's performance as Deputy Inspector Hill seems a bit wooden in the beginning. He doesn't seem to get the feel of the character until the story is one third to one half completed. Granted, he was called to do the part on such short notice, and this is Hill's only appearance in the series. Still, Reed needed more time to work out the kinks, so to speak.

The rest of "The Human Bomb" is extremely well done. The rest of the cast and crew do a stupendous job, and there are some really great visual effects for the flying scenes. The main actors are especially spectacular. You can really see the chemistry between them as the episode progresses. Jack Larson does stupendously with John Hamilton and Phyllis Coates, particularly in a comedic scene with Hamilton involving the tape recorder.

Speaking of Jack Larson, somehow, his acting in "The Human Bomb" has helped the character of Jimmy Olsen grow. Many of his episodes in season one so far have either shown him getting scared or trapped somehow. It was good to see him attempt to rescue Lois.

I can't help but wonder if Bet-A-Million Butler is insane. Inspector Hill says that Butler will bet on anything, which would tell the viewers nowadays that he has a gambling problem, but the fact that he believes he can control Superman and endangers Lois to prove this makes one wonder about Butler's sanity. I'm inclined to believe that Bet-A-Million Butler is as mad as many of the villains that battle Batman or the Shadow even if nothing is said outright in this episode.

In spite of missing Robert Shayne as Inspector Henderson, and Marshall Reed's bumpy beginning, "The Human Bomb" is still an entertaining, fun thirty minutes from start to finish. Check it out whenever you have a chance.



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